Pokémon Trading Card Game (Japanese: ポケモンカードＧＢPokémon Card GB) is the first Pokémon game in the Trading Card Game series to be released in Japan, in 1998. The English version was later released in North America in 2000. It was released on Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2014, making it the first Pokémon game to be released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

Contents

Plot

The player begins his or her adventure at Mason Laboratory, where Dr. Mason gives him or her the choice of taking along one of three different Pokémon Trading Card Game decks: Charmander & Friends, Squirtle & Friends or Bulbasaur & Friends. The player, known by default as Mark, has an ambition of becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Trading Card Game player; however, Mark's rival, Ronald, has a similar goal. Ronald will duel the player at certain points in the game to test the player's cards; being defeated is an indication for the player to improve his or her deck. Victory, however, results in receiving a Promotional Card.

Includes over 200 of your favorite Pokémon Trading Cards, plus new cards exclusive to the Game Boy game!

Learn how to play the card game, build and manage decks and duel with other card players in step-by-step tutorials.

Duel a friend using the Game Link cable (sold separately) or generate new cards using the Infra-Red Card Pop! feature (available with Game Boy Color only).

Basic reading skills are needed to fully enjoy the story.

Connectivity

Pokémon Trading Card Game allows players to send and receive cards and deck configurations between two cartridges via the Game Boy Color's infrared port. A feature called Card Pop! can also be used between players using Game Boy Colors also requires use of the infrared port. This has to be done in order to complete their album without cheating, since two cards can only be obtained through this feature.

The Game BoyGame Link Cable may be used duel another player's deck, allowing experienced players to pit their deck against equals.

Like the concept of the core series to store Pokémon in a PC, Trading Card Game also allows players to manage their cards via computer. Players can also check their mail for messages from Dr. Mason; Mason will send fifteen e-mails in all over the adventure, each containing at least one booster pack.

An almost exact reception center is also featured in Club lounges in the game, with a Battle Center and a Gift Center; the former which allows players to duel against each other's decks and the latter which allows players to send or receive cards or deck configurations.

Pokémon Trading Card Game also features the ability to run while holding the B button, an element that was not seen in the core series until Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. It also displays the player's location in the main menu before they choose to continue. On a similar note, from the Ruby and Sapphire versions onward, the save prompt can also display the player's location.

Pokémon cards

Containing every card released in the real Trading Card Game's Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil expansions, except for the Base Set's Electrode and Fossil's Ditto, and including many game-exclusive cards which were never produced for normal play, the game emulated the experience of the actual Trading Card Game very closely. No normal counterparts of holographic cards are included.

The game contains pre-recorded data on all 228 cards featured (including Lv15 Mew and Lv64 Venusaur). Despite this, not all Pokémon are available to the player through normal gameplay; Card Pop! must occur between players in order to complete their album without the use of cheats, as this is the only way to obtain the aforementioned Mew and Venusaur cards.

Card Pop!

Card Pop!, a feature much like the recurring Mystery Gift of the core series, can be used only by two players with Game Boy Colors, as it requires use of the Game Boy Color's Infra-Red Communications Port. Card Pop! generates a random card for both players, then records the ID of the cartridges used to Card Pop!. The same two cartridges cannot Card Pop! again until both players have used the feature with so many others that their ID is written over. This feature is the only way of obtaining two specific cards.